April 2009 Blog Posts (31)

eWeek reports on the 22Apr09 announcement of the pending release of a new Bluetooth standard - v3.0. This new version will increase the maximum wireless throughput from 3mb/sec to 23mb/sec. “Utilizing the 802.11 radio was a natural choice as it provides efficiencies for both our members and consumers — members get more function out of the two radios they are already… Continue

Blogging from the the ATA International Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada...the ATA has announced its first class of American Telemedicine Association Fellows. The individuals on this list are recognized for outstanding contributions to the field over an extended period. Here now the first ever Telemedicine "Fellows":

It's been a while since Palm® has "knocked our socks off". The wait may have been worth it. The company, in partnership with Sprint®, will shortly be releasing its next-gen smartphone, dubbed the Pre™. It was the 2009 recipient of the best at CES award (see video). Positive… Continue

This week I will reporting to you from the 14th Annual American Association (ATA) meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year's conference is the LARGEST ever convened by the association encompassing almost 3,000 attendees representing over 40 countries, and 200 exhibitors.

This is remarkable in light of the current worldwide economic challenges. That said, there appears to be a widespread recognition that eHealth will be a major driving force in healthcare… Continue

As reported in Genome Web News ... The National Institutes of Health has announced a new grant program as part of the stimulus bill that is designed to support research at educational institutions that provide advanced degrees for “a significant number” of US scientists, but which are not yet major recipients of NIH support.

Wrap your mind around this single but not isolated discovery: "1.9 million infected computers controlled by cybercriminals". "According to reports, the nearly two million bots include machines in 77 government domains in the US, UK and other countries. The size of the network would make it possibly the largest botnet under the control of cyber-thieves". This notice from Finjan speaks for itself. The concept of… Continue

As reported in Genome Web ... Researchers seeking small amounts of support for relatively short periods to fund short, well-defined studies that can be completed quickly, may apply to the National Institutes of Health for the Investigator Initiatives Small Grants program. Investigator-initiated research, also known as unsolicited research, is research funded as a result of an investigator submitting a research grant application to NIH in an investigator’s area of interest… Continue

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) includes provisions to advance the use of health IT and, at the same time, strengthen privacy and security protections for health information. In response, on 16Apr09 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed set of guidelines to deal with PHR data breaches. The FTC is formally seeking comment. The full text of the… Continue

The MedTechIQ community continues to grow. We are fortunate to have a membership of incredible talent, skill and experience. When you get a chance, search members by key word. See what you come up with ... then, "Contact, Connect, Collaborate!"

As predicted in MedTechIQ last January, 9 Web sites IT pros should master in 2009, Twitter has taken off in a big way, and has been much in the news as of late. In January of last year, Twitter revolved around the tech world -- the most-followed user on Jan. 18, 2008 was Twitteriffic, with 6,930 followers.

As reported in GenomeWeb News ... Under a grant program focused on early-stage ideas and technologies, the National Institutes of Health will give up to $275,000 over a two-year period to researchers seeking funding for potentially risky but rewarding studies. These grants are specifically meant to encourage new research projects that are in the beginning or discovery phases of development.

The future of medicine has some bright spots. One medical megatrend relates to the electronic health record. President Obama is aggressively pushing the electronic health record [EHR]. It will be a major improvement to medical care and to patient safety over time. But there are two major problems that need to be overcome before the EHR will ever be fully functional – interoperability and physician documentation. By interoperability I mean that each of the companies that produce the software do… Continue

eWeek reports that Google's open source mobile platform 'Android' is finally gathering steam despite a slow start in gathering corporate recruits as part of the OHA (Open Handset Alliance). This is all to the good for the user community. The iPhone remains the dominant player in the 'smart-phone' market, but even Apple must be concerned about the competition looming from… Continue